I was very proud to attend the Tokyo Olympics on behalf of the Government of Canada. Even more exciting and special – I got to see all seven of our Delta Olympians compete.
After such a trying year, it was amazing to see your resilience and confidence shine through. Your community and your country are so proud.
Now, on to the Paralympics starting August 24.
$10 a day childcare
Every child deserves a fair start, but many parents, particularly women, continue to struggle to afford safe childcare for their kids. The Canada-wide early learning and childcare system announced in Budget 2021, and signed by several Provinces, including B.C., will achieve an average parent fee of $10 per day for all regulated childcare spaces for children under 6 in the province.
This will allow families to provide their kids with high-quality programming and services without having to compromise their careers.
Vaccine update
To date, 51 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered. More than 82% of eligible Canadians have received one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and ~71% of those eligible are fully vaccinated, making Canada a world leader in COVID-19 vaccinations! We will continue to bring in millions of vaccines, and by the end of the summer, all Canadians who want to be fully vaccinated will have received a vaccine.
The Government of Canada, through COVAX (COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access Facility), has also committed $220 million to purchase doses for low and middle-income countries.
No one is safe until we are all safe.
Canada has also just signed a Memorandum of Agreement with Moderna to build an mRNA vaccine facility in Canada.
The economy is recovering
The Canadian Economy added 230,000 jobs in June and 94,000 jobs in July. This brings us within 246,100 of our target of 1 million jobs- restoring employment to previous levels.
Our plan is working, but there is still more to do.
Continued help for workers & businesses
Although our economy is bouncing back, we are not there yet. In July, I was proud to announce the following supports to those who still need help the most:
- Flexible access to EI benefits until 2022 and extending Sickness Benefits to 26 weeks
- Extending the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy, the Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy, and Lockdown Support until October 23, 2021
- Supporting businesses to hire new workers and increase workers’ hours or wages with the Canada Recovery Hiring Program
- Extending the Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB), the Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit (CRCB), and the Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit (CRSB) until Oct. 23, 2021
The new Canada Disability Benefit
In June, I was proud to introduce legislation to create a monthly income supplement for low-income working-age Canadians with disabilities. This will lift hundreds of thousands of Canadians with disabilities out of poverty, and be a foundational program within our Disability Inclusion Action Plan.
Join us this Saturday at 11 am, for the grand opening of the North Delta Track.
The federal government is contributing over three million dollars to this project that will benefit Delta families for generations to come.
Thank you to Mayor George Harvie and B.C. MLA Ravi Kahlon, for your leadership and collaboration, so that we could make this project a reality.
Canada Summer Jobs
Canada Summer Jobs is an initiative of the Youth Employment and Skills Strategy. This highly successful program provides wage subsidies to employers from not-for-profit organizations, the public sector, and private sector organizations with 50 or fewer full-time employees to create quality summer work experiences for young people aged 15 to 30 years.
This year, the program invested in 374 jobs worth $1.45M, to support small businesses, and young people here in Delta.
Critical improvements to long-term care
During the pandemic, the tragedies in Canada’s long-term care sector highlighted significant gaps that must be met with action by all governments and those working on behalf of seniors.
The Government of Canada is committed to working together with provinces and territories to improve seniors’ quality of life. We are working to reach agreements on the $1 billion Safe Long-term Care Funding and our Budget 2021 investment of $3 billion to ensure standards for long-term care are applied.
- Delta MP, Hon. Carla Qualtrough
